This was so much fun to read. I love historical fiction and this story was very original, moving, fun and hopeful.
It was a perfect escape. I'd highly recommend it. Joyce's writing is so vivid, it jumps off the page. Loved it.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

A delight to read. I loved it! What an emotional roller-coaster! Sometimes a bit darker and scarier than I had bargained for, but full of humanity. The two main characters come from very different places, but they both have values to bring into this unlikely friendship that changes them both for the better.
The fate of the characters is formed by the rules of the classic dramaturgy so it cannot be all happy endings, but it is definitely uplifting. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone who loves a good story about strong female characters.
Rachel Joyce has soon become one of my fevourite authors so I will always look out for her next novel.

This was a truly moving and magic story, as with Rachel Joyce’s other books you fall deep into the story and fall in love with the characters. A unique story of an unlikely friendship between two different character. Powerful, emotional and very heartwarming.

Rachel Joyce's books are always full of psychological insight, warmth and humour without ever shying away from the darker side of life and Miss Benson's Beetle is no exception.

What is new is that this is an adventure book which occurs mainly on an exotic faraway island.

It starts with Margery's family experiencing something in the War which it the catalyst for her leading a restricted life in many ways, devoid of affection and love. Margery finds her passion in entomology and researching beetles. However she ends up in a dead end job teaching home economics in a girl's school. There she is a victim of indifference and bullying. Margery is the classic outsider, large and awkward but for once she does something impulsive and leaves.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she plans an expedition to New Caledonia to find a fabled golden beetle and interviews for an assistant. Three interviewees stand out: an ex Japanese POW Mundic, a capable organised woman and Enid Pretty who likes fashion and talks incessantly.

Margery chooses her assistant only for fate to take an unexpected turning and Enid Pretty becomes her assistant and sails with her to New Caledonia.

The unlikeliest of companions it seems, but over time their friendship develops. Meanwhile another candidate has taken a different route to join the expedition. Will Margery's past come back to haunt her? Will Enid's past have an influence over events

This book explores historical female stereotypes, the effects of trauma , chance and fate. It had deft sketches of certain types of people like the Consul's Wife who hide their own unhappiness by being critical of others.
It also explores resilience , female friendship, passions we all have but maybe don't have the courage to pursue and the opportunity/capacity we have to change.

Like Harold Fry it's a journey on which learning evolves. There is also the metaphor of the beetle with its two pairs of wings "It needs the hard set to look after the complicated ones."

Joyce 's new book blends several plot lines effortlessly but there is no doubt there is a darker tone than its predecessors.

Rachel Joyce is very good at creating quirky, off-kilter characters and Miss Margery Benson is another impressive example. On the face of it, Margery is brave and determined to follow her dream but there is a thread of sadness running underneath all that optimism. A novel about female friendship and facing up to your demons, this is ultimately an uplifting book which keeps you reading to the very end to find out if Margery attains her heart’s desire.

Miss Benson’s Beetle is the third stand-alone novel by award-winning British author, Rachel Joyce. When, at the age of forty-six, Miss Margery Benson comes to truly understand the low regard in which she is held at the school where she teaches a class of ungrateful girls home economics, she makes a snap decision: she will fulfill the vow she made back in 1914 when she was a girl of ten.

She places an ad in The Times: “Wanted. French- speaking assistant for expedition to other side of the world. All expenses paid.” The right applicant will help her find the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia, to prove its existence to the entomologists at the Natural History Museum.

She’d been shown it in a book, Incredible Creatures, by her beloved father, just before he died: “’Do you think they’re real?’ she said. Her father nodded. ‘I have begun to feel comforted,’ he said, ‘by the thought of all we do not know, which is nearly everything.’ With that upside-down piece of wisdom, he turned another page.”

The favoured candidate pulls out at the last minute, leaving Margery no choice but to accept the one she considered most unsuitable, Enid Pretty, a dyslexic, over-made-up, endlessly chatty bottle-blonde with a talent for charming her way through obstacles (sometimes via cash and cleavage). An observer describes her as a trickster.

Enid, keeping a tight hold on her red valise, is very eager to join in Margery’s expedition, but clearly harbouring a secret or two. “Enid was still anathema to Margery, like trying to read a map upside down. She rushed through life as if she was being chased. Even things whose whole point was slowness, like waking up, for instance, after a heavy night’s sleep, she took at a lick.” Yet, when Margery really needs her help, she freely gives it.

Margery and Enid arrive, but will they find their beetle? “She hadn’t a clue why she was lying in a hammock on the other side of the world, already half crippled, looking for a beetle that had never been found – she could die out here, under these alien stars, and no one would know.” And quite unbeknownst to then both, a rejected candidate, a former POW with a severe case of PTSD is hot on their trail, his intentions a little vague.

What a wonderful story Joyce gives the reader! Quirky characters who can irritate and endear; a setting so well rendered that the heat, humidity and foreignness are palpable; and several secrets gradually revealed. Laugh-out-loud (almost slapstick) moments are balanced with lump-in-the-throat occasions and wise words: “We are not the things that happened to us. We can be what we like”.

Central to the story is the unlikely friendship that forms: “The differences between them – all those things she’d once found so infuriating – she now accepted. Being Enid’s friend meant there were always going to be surprises” but also explored are grief and guilt, independence and self-worth. Once again, Rachel Joyce does not disappoint.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld Publishing.

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce
I have read many of Rachel Joyce’s other novels and am always impressed with the way she is able to create unusual, flawed characters with whom you can empathise. The main character in this novel is the Miss Margery Benson of the title who is a frumpy 46 year old teacher. One day walks out of the job which she abhors as a domestic science teacher, stealing a pair of boots as she leaves. She has been humiliated yet again by her pupils and when she leaves she decides to fulfil her dream of discovering a rare beetle in New Caledonia. Despite having no formal entomological qualifications and no experience she prepares for her journey; interviewing candidates in a Lyons Corner House.
The person chosen to accompany her pulls out at the last minute so she sends for one of the other applicants, Enid Pretty. So begins an adventure for which neither woman is prepared and as they battle with harsh conditions and disasters they discover hidden depths and reserves of strength. The relationship between the two is always tinged with humour and the events verge on the ridiculous but there are moments when you laugh out loud and others when you could weep for them. I would thoroughly recommend this entertaining novel. Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Another winner from Rachel Joyce, this is an epic adventure set in the 1950s. Miss Benson lives a very small life until she finally decides to chase her dreams, all the way to South Caledonia. Her unlikely companion has some dark secrets under a vivid outward persona. This is a story of friendship, courage and determination. Beautifully written.

Another good book from Rachel Joyce, about Margery who goes in search of the mythical golden beetle with her assistant Enid. Two very different ladies who form the most amazing friendship bond whilst travelling to the other side of the world, and both embark on their own voyage of self discovery. The story goes from real sadness to the very happiest of moments , and back again. Its the perfect read to help you feel that if you keep trying almost anything is possible, just believe it'll happen . I thoroughly recommend this book, it'll uplift you in this uncertain new world we currently inhabit!

The Golden Beetle – Myth or Fact?

It is the year 1950. Take Margery Benson, a rather plain, stout middle-aged spinster who is obsessed with beetles. Add Mr Mundic, a survivor of the horrors of WW2 army service in Burma and suffering from a severe case of PTSD, and Enid Pretty, a 25-year-old dyslexic blonde bombshell with a perfect reason to get out of England in a hurry, innate resourcefulness and a rather – ahem – unorthodox set of life skills. Mix well and season with tales of a mythical golden beetle found only in New Caledonia, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean 1,500km from Brisbane. The result is the story of Miss Benson’s expedition to the other side of the world, hoping to prove the beetle’s existence and to bring back specimens for the Natural History Museum.

Having never travelled out of England, Margery realises she can’t go on such an expedition on her own. She will need an assistant. Margery interviews Mr Mundic who is clearly unsuitable, the lady she had employed pulls out at the last minute. Margery has no choice but to employ Enid, sight unseen, who had also replied to the advertisement but who Margery had turned down without an interview as she obviously wasn’t the right sort of person for the job.

They arrange to meet at Fenchurch Station at 9 a.m. on 19th October. Margery is sensibly dressed for the expedition, wearing a pith helmet and carrying an insect net. Imagine Margery’s utter horror when she sees this short, heavily made-up lady wearing a tight, bright pink travel suit. A tiny pink hat on top of the puff of bright yellow hair and tiny sandals with a pom-pom at the toe, and struggling with three huge suitcases and a bright red valise. She refuses to listen to Margery’s protestations, and with the imminent departure of the train, Enid literally forces herself into the position of assistant. And so the unlikely pair set out on their long journey. In the meantime, Mr Mundic has plans of his own to take over the leadership of the expedition and to protect Margery from all dangers, seen or unseen …

Rachel Joyce excels herself once again with this highly entertaining, moving, funny and tragic tale of grit and determination at all costs. Does the golden beetle of New Caledonia exist? Or is it just a myth? Read the book to find out for yourself!

Bennie Bookworm.

The Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

For Margery Benson life has been a non-event. After the death of her brothers in the fist war, the death of her parents and the death of her aunts, Margery is left with a nice mansion flat and a job she hates. When she walks out of her job she decides to fulfil the ambition of her youth, to search for the mysterious golden beetle of New Caledonia and thus begins a great adventure.


Rachel Joyce is completely on the money yet again. This is such a lovely and life-affirming story which takes the shape of a madcap road trip to the far ends of the South pacific. Both female characters are disappointed in life but their friendship is real. The spectre of both wars runs through the narrative - Margery's brothers and father and Mundic's prisoner of war experiences - neither is described in anything other than the basic terms. The tone is just right, with pathos as well as hilarity and a streak of feminine strength - I loved this book

I always enjoy Rachel Joyce’s books and this was no exception.
Margery has led a sheltered and often unfulfilled life. Her ambition has aLways been to discover the golden beetle she read about in books with her father when she was young. She embarks on the adventure with her ‘assistant’ Enid who is an unusual choicest first. The two women form a friendship with its fair share of testing times.
I loved the characters and was rooting for them throughout. A really lovely read.

Rachel Joyce has done it again, created wonderful characters who engage the reader 100%
I felt that I was part of the journey to find the elusive beetle, the relationships were exquisite.
I so enjoyed this book during Covid lockdown, I felt as if I'd left home and travelled with them.

Life has forced Margery Benson into a dead-end teaching job which she's never enjoyed. Then one day in an uncharacteristic moment of passion, she storms out of school, burns her bridges and decides to pursue her one dream, to find the undiscovered Golden Beetle of New Caledonia; an insect which has long been rumoured to exist but which no one has caught and categorised. To help on her quest, Margery will need an assistant - one as practical and down to earth as herself; one with stout shoes and practical clothing, able to cope with jungle, heat, and the basic living conditions they'll have have to tolerate on their expedition. Instead, she ends up with Enid Pretty; petite, curvaceous, and dressed head to toe in pink - possibly the most impractical explorer's outfit ever!

Miss Benson's Beetle is a light-hearted, engaging, feminist tale of adventure and adversity, of over-coming the odds with the help of one's friend, and attempting to fulfill one's long-held dreams.
Together they make the most unlikely pair, but Enid refuses to be left behind, so they set out to the other side of the world on a journey of discovery, of both beetles and friendship. Margery and Enid are perhaps the most unlikely two women to ever imagine as friends, but, thrown together by circumstances and Enid's determination to not be left behind, a bond gradually grows between them. Both have long-held dreams, and New Caledonia looks like the place they might come true.

There is something about Rachel Joyce stories, that have a quietness about them which stays with you for a very long time. I remember the beauty of her debut novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and I think this book captures the essence of that book, that new adventure not just for Joyce but for Harold Fry as well. This is a new adventure.

This time we meet Margery Benson, spinster, late forties who discovered an interest in a particular golden beetle. It was said to exist but no one had seen or even found it. This would be her work, but events took another path and she finds herself in a job she dislikes.

When a case of stolen boots, forces her to reevaluate her life she abandons everything and puts all she has into an expedition to find said golden beetle.

Enter Enid Pretty.

Pink Suit, bright yellow hair, pom poms on her shoes and clutching a red valise.

She is the last person you would expect to see Margery with but somehow they make it half way round the world to New Caledonia.  Sometimes together and sometimes apart but there is something about two unlikely people forming a friendship and it surviving.

Enid is everything Margery isn't - a rule breaker, a chancer, a woman with secrets.

Margery is everything Enid isn't - staid, organised, a woman with one chance to discover the beetle and leave her mark on the world.

This book is a journey of the impossible and believing in trying to do something is just as important as the end result, whether it be positive or negative. What has happened in the past is forgotten as these two unlikely women form a bond, a bond which has to suffer blood, toil, sweat and tears in equal measure from both of them.

There are ups and clearly a lot of downs on this quest, and not only do we glimpse a life of a entomologist but we see a life far away from home. It may seem the dawn of a new age in 1950/1951 but the echoes of both wars still resonate and they affect nearly everyone they come into contact with. Women have a very different role to play, there time has yet to come and perhaps Margery and Enid are just the beginning of the change. Who knows.

With detailed research clearly undertaken in terms of the landscape of New Caledonia as well as the research into all the insects and the treatment and recording of them, the book teaches you as well as gives you a story that you can believe in and characters you put your trust in.

A quiet book with a big impact. Rachel Joyce's writing at her best in my humble opinion.

Rachel Joyce weaves an emotionally moving, magical, offbeat historical adventure novel set in the 1950s, a post-war drab and colourless Britain of shortages and rationing, of two widely different women that appear to have little that could possibly connect them, embarking on a etymological trip in search of the mythic rumoured golden beetle in the Grande Terre, and the New Caledonia archipelago. The large 47 year old Marjery Benson is an unmarried woman working as a teacher, her shoes falling apart, a constant target of her class, until one humiliation too many has her walking out, taking with her the stolen boots of the deputy head. When she was 10 years old in 1914, her beloved father sparked a life long passion, an obsession for etymology, beetles in particular, more accurately the elusive golden beetle. However, that day is a bitter, tragic and despairing memory as news of the loss of Archibald, Hugh, Howard and Matthew, all her brothers, proves to be too much for her father as he commits suicide.

Marjery is awkward, friendless, living alone in London, out of tune with others and unable to mix socially, having given up earlier in her life her dream of going to New Caledonia in search of the golden beetle for the Natural History Museum. She still carries within her the grief of the loss of her father, along with a bitter fury at being abandoned. Despite being ill able to afford the trip, the Natural History refusing funding, Marjery is determined to embark on the adventure of a life time to findthe golden beetle, planning and preparing, needing a French speaking assistant to aid her. She rejects outright what appears to be the illiterate Enid Pretty, but when her chosen candidate backs out, she feels pushed into a corner. The contrast between her and the bottle blonde Enid, with her sherbet yellow hair, her numerous pots, creams and potions, her colourful attire, and non-stop chatter makes Marjery feel faint, Enid is not an appropriate choice whatever way she looks at it. Both women have their own reasons for leaving the country and amidst adversity and joy, an unlikely friendship begins to blossom.

Joyce's creation and development of Marjery and Enid is sublime in a narrative stuffed full of misadventures, tragedy and joy, testing times that bring out their resilience and endurance in the face of such challenging experiences. There is a broken former soldier, a POW in Burma, Mundic, delusional, suffering PTSD, suffering huge problematic mental health issues, who becomes obsessed with and stalks Marjery. This is a wonderfully atmospheric, captivating, touching, vibrant, humorous and engaging read of faith, belief and hope which I adored. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

I loved this book, Rachel Joyce writes cracking stories of downtrodden people cracking and then setting off on an adventure that brings them to life but then to a dramatic ending with some tragedy. This is no exception. Set in 1950 the main focus is on Margery Benson who after being humiliated by her students walks out of school and decides to travel to the other side of the world in search of a golden beetle. In exploring her story we find out about her tragic childhood, her doomed relationship and how her love of beetles gave her purpose and meaning. She interviews assistants and ends up with the most unlikely one in Enid Pretty. Enid of course turns out to be the best assistant fleeing her own trauma but being able to use her sexuality in ways that puzzles Margery. Their adventure is an unusual story of women setting of in search of discovering new species and facing hardships and challenges mostly due to their gender. They also show kindness to indigenous populations in a way that is also unusual in books about exploring different lands. There is also gentle mocking of the British abroad who are trying to tame nature and other cultures through force and politeness. I would have liked a different ending but the story was completely gripping and absorbing.

With thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

In 1950, 47 year old, frumpy spinster Miss Margery Benson walks out of her job as a domestic science teacher, after being humiliated by her students and decides she is going to follow her childhood dream of finding a rare beetle in the wilds of New Caledonia. Accompanying her, as the most unlikely of companions, is the young and attractive Enid Pretty.

This novel was a delight to read. Rachel Joyce creates such wonderful characters and Margery and Enid are both marvelously human and flawed. Totally unalike, they both experienced difficult upbringings, and are destined to become great friends after they share many adventures and hardships together. While Margery is naive and unaccustomed to dealing with people, she is organised and knowledgeable when it comes to beetles and Enid's street smarts is put to good use to plug any deficiencies in their plans. There is much humour in their relationship and exploits but also sadness and a wonderful ending. Highly recommended!

Miss Benson’s Beetle is a beautiful, heartwarming book by Rachel Joyce. It follows the story of Margery Benson who is on an expedition to find the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia with her assistant Enid Pretty. I could not put this book down and devoured it over a couple of days. I loved everything about this book; the journey, the setting, the characters and their growing friendship. The two main characters are polar opposites, both wonderful and quirky and even the side characters bring so much to this book. Highly recommended.

Another winner from this excellent author in which we meet Margery Benson, a forty seven year old teacher who admits to herself that she is overweight, frumpy and stuck in a boring, friendless life. An unfortunate experience with a class of teenage girls forces her to re-evaluate and change in some remarkable ways.

Rachel Joyce has a tremendous talent for writing characters we can empathise with and love even when they have serious issues! Margery is such a character and so is Enid, the woman she acquires as her assistant in her new self appointed career as a research etymologist. Both of them suffer some awful experiences but together they discover inner resources they never knew they had.

Through all their misadventures, and there are many, the two become devoted friends, save each other many times, and provide a lot of humour along the way. Parts of the book are laugh aloud funny, others make you reach for the tissues.

The ending is sad but fitting. Margery loses something important to her but gains something precious she never knew she wanted. Delightful.